Big Scary release new single 'Phil Collins'

Melbourne’s Big Scary have just released the first single from their second album – and it’s named after the guy who wrote ‘In The Air Tonight’ and ‘Sussudio’.

‘Phil Collins’ is the first song from the duo’s upcoming album Not Art, which will be released midway through the year. Unfolding at a glacial pace, the track sees Tom Iansek’s vocals soar over a calm Jo Syme drumbeat. Iansek claims they had aimed to create a sense of space and mood. “We wanted it to be a song that transports you somewhere, to another time and place,” he said. ‘Phil Collins’ was mixed by Grammy winner Tom Elmhirst (The Kills, Goldfrapp), who said the “strong vocal performance” should be a sign of things to come on the album.

No Art, meanwhile, was “almost entirely” produced and engineered by Iansek. “From the first tracking to the final master it was about nine months in the making,” said Syme. “There are a bunch of influences which led us to the sound for Not Art, but the main spark was discovering elements of hip-hop production and applying it to what is essentially pop music.”